Etta at 6 months

weight: 16 lbs 2oz (55%)
length: 25in (50%)
head circumference: 16 3/4 (75%)

I actually had the Dr re-check the numbers because I was surprised that Etta was only 55% and 50%. I am scared to see what a 90% baby looks like because Etta seems so big to me! Not that I am worried she is too big, but she is wearing 12 month onesies these days. Now I know part of that is due to her cloth diaper, but still! Maybe it just seems to me that she is growing so fast and losing her "baby" look & feel. She is grabbing at everything & sitting up & starting to eat food - no longer just a small snuggly, sleepy bundle of baby.

She is healthy & on a good growth-curve & happy, a mother could not ask for more! Oh, did I mention that she is really cute? Because she is!!! I have gotten numerous comments from strangers on how beautiful she is & how she could be the next "Gerber baby"!

Happy Half Birthday Dear Etta

I am 6 months old today

 look, it's my foot

 I can roll to the side while holding my feet

 my feet can also help me hold things like toys

 yum, tasty toes

 this is my new (half) birthday toy

 big sister likes playing with it too, but it is my turn

 ooh! toy & toes

 toes now, toy later. 

I can't usually bend this well while wearing a cloth diaper - I have to take advantage of my naked time!

Two sweet cupcakes

Addie's shirt reads "One of a kind" (1 of the cupcakes has a different color of frosting)

Etta's shirt reads "You can call me cupcake"

 Tee, hee I know I have silly hair

 So sweet with bows in their hair

A different Sunday & different cute outfits but

Etta is not so sure she wants to sit still for pictures

Addie humors us with smiles for pictures only some of the time, 

but at least she sits pretty still

Happy Etta

In two weeks I will be posting with her 6 month stats! But for now, here are some pictures of Miss Etta Rose

She loves to be naked, she loves her toes, she loves to squirm & she loves to sing (squeal)

I can't wait until she can sit up on her own & join Addie in the big bathtub,

 because bath time is quite a challenge these days with her wet squirmy body trying to escape her infant tub 

These pictures are all courtesy of my mom (known to the girls as Grandma Ellie) who came to visit for a few days (& take a few hundred pictures of course!).

Potty Learning

That is what a lot of resources are calling it these days instead of potty training. Because, they say, really the child teaches themselves about recognizing the body signals and developing appropriate potty skills.

Addie still has a few things to learn...

like underwear don't belong on your head

                                         


Actually, she is our little potty expert. Over all, potty training went a lot easier than I thought. There is still the occasional pee accident and when we are out & about & she says she has to go, I know I need to drop everything & find a potty fast.

Here is a sampling of what we have been reading & watching in our house lately:

Potty Train: Chugga chugga pooo pooo

The potty movie for girls - starring Hannah

Danny is done with diapers: potty ABC book

Potty time with bear (video)

Potty animals: what to know when you've got to go

Go potty go (video)

Once upon a potty

Elmo's potty time (video)

Hanging to Dry

After 2 years of hanging our cloth diapers to dry, we finally put a (retractable) clothes line outside. In the past I would hang the diapers on our inside drying rack then carry the rack outside on days where there was a little sun. A clothes line is so much better! I know it will have swimsuits draped over it a lot this summer since I have two girls who love to splash in the water.

Addie liked helping hand me clothespins and collecting the clothespins once the diapers were dry

the clothespins are beings stored in an empty baby-wipes container

bamboo clothes pins...

Also seen in our yard this week: Addie digging in the garden. The weather is still a little too cold for planting starts, and there are no seeds we want to plant this year but where there is dirt there is a toddler. I bought her the cute gardening set, complete with gloves, so she had to try it out.

she has her own kneeling board and a broom to clean up her mess

notice the tomato hat!

aw mom, can't I be done digging yet?

Maya doggy

Matt's brother Myron & his wife Lori bought a puppy at Christmas time. Addie LOVES "Maya doggy" (we also know a baby named Maya so we distinguish the two by saying "Maya doggy"). Addie likes dogs in general, and likes my parents dog Gus because she gets to help Papa feed him. Maya is by far her favorite dog though. Maya is a great play-date for Addie: she has lots of energy, she is small, and she loves to eat snacks (which Addie loves to give her).

Here is the hair-raising experience of holding Maya's leash

Are you sure you trust me Uncle Myron?

Maya is anxiously waiting for Addie to throw the ball

Watching Maya play from up high

We have no intention of getting a dog anytime soon. So it is great that Addie can get her doggy fix at the same time as spending time with Myron & Lori. Uncle Myron & Aunt Lori are some of Addie's favorite babysitters too!

He Is Risen!

(appropriate response is "He is risen indeed!")

We spent Easter in Kent with Matt's family. We went to church with them (Addie sat with us in "big church" as she calls it) then spent the day at their house.

Here are some pictures of the day...

(good luck getting both girls to smile at the camera at the same time!)

Addie with Aunt May

Addie with GG (great grandma Mary)

Addie with Papa (note the hairclip that Aunt Cheryl made)

Addie with Grandma Karen

We did an egg hunt for Addie.

Ready, set

Go!

The highlight of the day for Addie was playing with Uncle Myron & Aunt Lori's puppy Maya. Those two were chasing each other & getting lots of energy out. Addie loved all the face kisses Maya gave her!
(Maybe Aunt May has pictures of Addie playing with Maya that she can share?)

We did not get any good pictures of Etta - she had some periods of being content in other peoples arms but mostly just wanted mommy or daddy to hold her. Too bad.

Easter eggs & packages

On Monday Addie decorated eggs.

and tried a Peep (not a fan).

On Tuesday she got an Easter package from her Aunt Cheryl & Cousin Aubree: a cute felt Easter basket and hair-clips that Cheryl made for her & Etta. So cute! (thanks Aunt Cheryl if you are reading this)

On Thursday she got a package from Grandma Ellie with an Easter treat for each of us and a couple books. I did not take pictures. What you really need is a sound clip though. It would sound like this: "cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep". That is the sound of the baby chick from the one book (not a sound I am making to reflect on the value of the gift!). Addie is a big fan of books with noise buttons so has had me read it a lot. Thank you Grandma Ellie!

Mirror, mirror on the...

garbage can!

In Etta's room we have a large round stainless steel garbage can that we use for Etta's dirty cloth diapers. Addie enjoys the fact that the can is reflective & she can see herself in it. Today she might have enjoyed that feature a little too much. I was sitting in the glider nursing Etta. Addie decided to sit down on a small footstool facing the can. First she was talking & smiling at her reflection in the can. Then she put her arms around the can to give her reflection a hug. Next she gave her reflection kisses! I was smirking, unsure whether I should be laughing because it was so dang funny or telling her to stop because poopy diapers go in there and it is germy. At least most of her kisses involve her nose, not her tongue!

On the subject of hugs: Addie is still learning etiquette. It used to be that she would expect you to do all the work - she would not extend her arms, instead she would stand there & receive the hug. That has been changing. Lately there have been bear hugs given to mommy & daddy. Also there have been some hugs between her & other toddlers that ended up with one laying on top of the other because they hug so hard & don't let go that they fall over. Today she decided to give her friend Beckett a goodbye hug after their playdate. His arms were in front of him so she moved them out to the side so she could get her arms around him good. Then she wanted to kiss him so she took his face in both her hands so she could (nose)kiss him straight on. Luckily Beckett was smirking through all of this.

On the subject of kisses: Etta is at the adorable baby stage of trying to grab your face between her hands and give your mouth, nose, etc a full-on open mouthed slobber kiss. Gotta love it!

(Etta's first ponytail! I am sure there will be many more in her near future now that I know it is possible & adorable!)